ESPN was the big winner at the 2017 Fantasy Sports Trade Association (FSTA) Industry Awards held during the FSTA Winter Conference Tuesday. The U.S.-based global cable and satellite sports television channel walked away with eight wins, including Host of the Year (Field Yates), Analyst of the Year (Matthew Berry), Best Content & News App and Best Video Show (Fantasy Football Now).

The FSTA Industry Awards honors top individual and organizational achievers in the fantasy sports industry. The award categories are Games, Media and All-Star.

The deadline for all nominations was Nov. 21, and finalists were notified on Dec. 1st. The voting period ran from Dec. 4 through Dec. 15, with the fan vote deciding Most Outstanding Social Media and Best Fantasy Merchandise category; the Media category decided by a panel of judges; and Games and All-Star Categories by FSTA membership vote. Awards were presented on January 22-23, 2018 at the two-day FSTA Winter Conference at The Westin Los Angeles.

Other big winners were Fantasy Game DRAFT, which took home four awards, winning the association’s “Fantasy Business of the Year” award, as well as, “Best Draft Room,” “Best Games App” and “Best Daily Fantasy Game.”

Other notables were Yahoo Sports, which took home “Best Fantasy Sports Commissioner” and DailyRoto’s Drew Dinkmeyer with “Humanitarian of the Year.”

President of the FSTA, Paul Charchian, said, “This year marked a record number of nominations for our annual awards,” according to the press release.

“I think this speaks not only to the enthusiasm and optimism within the fantasy sports industry, but also the current breadth and depth of fantasy content creators, businesses, and innovators,” said Charchian.

All combined 13 companies were winners in 23 categories, voted on by the FSTA membership, fans and an awards committee comprised of fantasy players, industry stalwarts and academics.

According to the FSTA, which has been the voice of the industry since 1998, in June 2017, a study conducted by global market research and a consulting firm, Ipsos, on behalf of the association revealed that in the United States and Canada there are an estimated 59.3 million fantasy sports and the industry is now reportedly worth $7.22 billion.

Representing the fantasy sports industry, the FSTA has over 150 member companies that range from small startups to large media corporations.

FSTA’s Winter Conference, which celebrated its 20th anniversary this year, boasts a gathering of some of the most elite fantasy sports industry innovators from around the world. Conference attendees are made up of a wide variety of disciplines within the fantasy sports industry and bring with them a wealth of knowledge.

Sponsors of this year’s event included BetConstruct and GURU/ELITE among others.